Do You Know Who I Am?
by MakaS0ul
Summary: Orihime is returning home from grocery shopping when she finds and injured man in a dumpster. She takes him back to her place to heal him and find out what happened. IchigoXOrihime
1. The First Meeting

**Hiya, this is my first fanfic, so be nice please! Also, if you like Vampire Diaries, check out my friend, Lioness002!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, I'm just writing the story.

I walked along the silent streets of Karakura town, alone in the darkness. The street lamps painted the town with a luminescent glow, like fireflies dancing in the night. I had been heading home from the grocery store with my bags full of red bean paste, my favorite snack. Walking past an alleyway, I heard a strange sound coming from the dumpster area, which sounded like some trash bags being shuffled around. _It's just a cat. That's all it is._ I thought to myself. Still, I stopped, checking to make sure I wasn't crazy. When I was met with silence, I decided to continue my trek home, but once again, the sound came. This time I went in the barren side street, my footsteps echoing down the alleyway, disappearing along with the all-consuming darkness. I set my bags down at my feet and looked at the dumpster in front of me. I then lifted the deformed black lid, hearing a soft tap as the lid hit the solid brick wall, and moved some of the trash bags. The horrible stench overwhelmed me as I fought to keep my last meal in my stomach. I pushed aside another bag then gasped in horror. _Blood. Lots of it. Oh my god._ I could feel my heartbeat pumping on my ears and the color drain from my face, as I began to prickle with unease. With panic rising inside me, I tossed the rest of the bags away only to come upon a man in black robes, bleeding profusely from his chest.

_Who is this guy? What the hell happened to him?_ So many questions. "Hey! Can you hear me? Wake up!" I said, slightly shaking his shoulders. No response. _What now? Should I take him to a hospital? It's pretty far away though. He might not make it 'til then. _I tried him again. "Hello? Wake up!" Still no response. This time, I shook him with more force. "WAKE UP!" I shouted. A grunt. _Did he make a noise?_ I shook him one last time, and finally, he stirred.

He jolted forward, or at least, he tried to. Instead, it seemed to be more of an attempted crawl. He drew his legs inward, protecting his midsection, keeping it away from me. Now that he was up, I could get a good look at his face. Several cuts along his face were bleeding freely. His hair was as orange as a pumpkin and the bangs just covered his chocolate brown eyes. The rest of his hair was ruffled and it fell just past his jawline. Blood was pouring from his head and was running into his eyes. _He must have taken an injury to the head_. I thought as I noticed that he was keeping one eye shut, despite his other being as wide as a saucer. Fear was practically emanating from his entire body. "It's okay! I won't hurt you. I just want to help…" I said, trailing off as his good eye began to close and his body began to fall forwards.

I quickly leaned over the ragged edge of the dumpster and flung my arms out to catch his limp body before it fell into the garbage. His entire weight rested on my frame, causing my knees to buckle. "Hey! I don't think I can carry you all the way to my house! You're gonna have to help me!" I said desperately. With no response, I attempted to shift his weight to my shoulder, so I could be his crutch. The process was far easier said than done, as it took several minutes for me to do so, with his weight bearing down upon me. _Crap. If this keeps up, he'll die before we even start moving. _I then felt adrenaline course through my veins and I prepared myself for the difficult journey back to my apartment.

I raised myself to a standing position, and began to drag him towards the luminescent streets. He must have noticed that I had begun to walk because he awoke, startled and wide-eyed. He made no attempt to escape my grasp, and instead, resigned to limp along with me. His free-flowing blood began to stain my pink t-shirt and blue jeans, but I paid it no mind. _They're just clothes. I can always go buy a new shirt and a pair of jeans. _I glanced around anxiously, not a soul in sight. There was nobody to help me, or him for that matter. As we entered the street, cars whizzed by, and the street lamps glittered. We began to trudge along a sidewalk that had several cracks in it. At one point my foot caught in a particularly large crack and I began to fall forward. I pushed my other leg out in front of myself, but I knew that as soon as I put both our weights on it, my knee would give out. The robed man seemed to realize this because he suddenly stuck out one of his legs out and stabilized us. The trek began again and I straightened myself while a clock chimed in the distance, signaling that it was midnight. I sighed and shook my head. _I have a feeling that I won't be getting much sleep tonight._ Soon, we began to approach my apartment, but there was just one problem, the stairs. I sized them up, glaring slightly at the emotionless, cruel steps. _How in the world am I going to get him up there?! I can barely walk with him on a flat surface, let alone an incline._ I drew in an exasperated breath and repositioned the man in my arms. "All right. Can you hear me?" I asked him. He nodded slightly in response. "I need you to muster up what little strength you have right now. We've got a short, but painful, flight of stairs to climb and it's gonna be tough unless you help me. Got it?" Again, he nodded. I counted to three, and we took the first step. I was breathing heavily after each step; each breath lacked the amount of oxygen I wanted. I stole a quick glance at him; he was breathing harder than I was, but his breaths were shallow. _Just a few more. Almost there. Please, hold on. Don't die on me! _At last, after what seemed like an eternity, we reached the top of the merciless flight of stairs. I fumbled for my key, buried deep within my pocket, and pulled it from its hiding spot. I then stuck it into the rusted hole. The lock clicked with a slight twist, and I kicked the door open.

We entered my doorway, which held some of my shoes and the house slippers, which were all pink, my favorite color. _Just a bit further. _I pulled the man through my empty hallway and past the living room, which held a low table with maroon pillows for sitting and the small tv, and past my bedroom door, which was tightly shut. We limped into the bathroom where I laid him on the icy tiled floor. His face was growing pale, and his breaths were becoming shallower with each one that passed his lips. I realized that if I didn't hurry, he was really going to die. I flung open the door to my medicine cabinet and pulled out the first aid kit. "Hold still. I'm going to clean your wounds." I said to him, a man in no condition to move at all. I wetted a wash cloth with warm water and dabbed at the open wounds after I pulled some of his blood soaked robes away. They were still bleeding freely, and appeared to be caused by some kind of blade, perhaps a sword. _Is he a yanki of some sort? How did all of this happen?_ I wondered while I pulled out a small brown bottle which was labeled, "Disinfectant". "It's time for the antiseptic. This will probably sting a lot, but try to bear it." I said as I quickly wiped the cream colored solution across his chest and stomach wounds; they were all still pouring blood across his midsection. He howled in pain, writhing from the sting and waving his arms around, attempting to fight the invisible enemy causing him pain. His screams echoed in the tiny bathroom, bouncing off the white walls, and causing me to nearly faint. "It's okay! Calm down! I need to wrap your midsection, so hold still!" I yelled, attempting to get him to hear me over the sounds of his screams. I grabbed the medical tape and attempted to hold him down to the tile. My efforts were in vain, as he struggled against my grasp. "It's okay. You're fine. Just try to relax." I said softly as his screaming began to subside. He glanced at me from behind his shaggy bangs with his good eye, and I showed him the medical tape, to which he nodded slightly, as if giving me permission to treat his wounds. "All right, I'm going to need you to raise your stomach so I can get the tape around your back. Do you think you can manage that?" I asked him, using as soft and gentle a voice as I could. His good eye stared at me, as if he was trying to look into my soul, before he nodded again. His stomach began to rise and I quickly began to wrap the white tape around his midsection. _Well, at least he can do some simple movements. His breathing is getting better too. _I moved and began to wrap the tape around his strong, wide shoulders, and glanced across his body. _Wow. He's not half bad looking! Wait! Now's not the time for this! He hasn't immediately bled through the bandages yet, so that's a good sign._ I then wrapped his muscular arms and legs, and finally wrapped his orange-haired head. "What happened to your eye?" I asked him curiously. He shook his head. "Do you not want to tell me? I can understand if you don't want me to know." Again, he shook his orange-haired head. "What then?" He attempted to open both eyes, but the hurt one remained tightly shut. He gave up trying to open it, and looked at me with his good eye again. I almost gasped. His stare was intense, going straight through me. I felt as if I had been pierced by the blade that cut him, as I struggled to breathe normally. He opened his mouth, as if he was about to say something, then shut it again. "We'll talk about this later. Don't worry about it now." I said rummaging through the tiny and white first-aid kit as I pulled out an eye patch. The eye patch was white with a stretchy string; this was to allow for it to fit around any sized head comfortably. I gently raised his head and placed the patch over his hurt eye. "There! You're all set! I'm gonna get you into my bed, so you can sleep comfortably. I'll sleep on the couch."

I began to bring his arm over my tiny shoulder so I could be his crutch once again, but as I started to raise myself, his weight became lighter. I looked at him, bewildered as to what was going on. He had taken more of his own weight, and seemed to be able to keep his good eye open while he was walking now, this was very different from the way he had kept his eye closed on the way to my apartment earlier. _I guess the anesthetic is working. He seems to be breathing normally. Well, except for right now. He must be pushing himself by trying to take his own weight. _As we walked through the empty halls of my house, he was glancing around, taking in what little scenery there was. We arrived at my bedroom door, and I opened it with a small twist of the brass knob. He gazed in awe at my bed as we approached it. I set him down and began to tuck him in underneath the soft, pink, flannel sheets. He looked at me, as if asking, "If I'm here, where are you going to sleep?", but I only smiled gently at him. "Don't worry! I'll take the couch. Try and get some rest! You'll heal faster if you do," I told him while rubbing my arm slightly. "Well, goodnight then!" I said as I turned off the light and shut the door. Once outside, I leaned against the chestnut wood and took a deep breath. _What on earth am I doing? Tatsuki would freak if I told her some strange man was sleeping in my bed. She'd probably tell me that it's dangerous to pick up strangers from dumpsters. She would shake her head at me and say that he could be a rapist, a psycho, or even a murderer!_ I raised myself up and slapped my cheeks lightly. "That's no good," I said aloud. "I had to help him! He would have died without me!" I grabbed a comforter from the closet, and laid myself down on the small couch. _I hope he sleeps well. _I thought before drifting off into a light sleep.

_**Haha! Chapter one is done! **__**\**__**(^O^)/ Woot! Did you guys like it? Look forward to the next chapter! Thanks to my awesome beta, Lioness002! :D R&R please! -MakaS0ul**_


	2. The First Night

**Hello again! I'm sorry that it took so long to update, but school is crazy right now and I'm super slammed with homework. Also, I was getting a really detailed idea for another fanfic, but that will come later! Right now, Orihime is extremely confused about what is going on. And who wouldn't be? Anyway, let's start the chappy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo and the like! Thanks to my super awesome (but slow! :P) beta, Lioness002!**

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As I laid on the couch, snugly tucked under a soft comforter, I couldn't help but wonder what was going on with the orange-haired man. I had no idea why he was injured, why he was in the dumpster, or why he was dressed in those odd robes of his. _He had sword wounds. Is he some sort of yanki? I suppose he could be, I mean, his clothes were strange enough to be some sort of uniform. _I pushed the thought out of my mind. _Oh man! I hope I didn't bring home some sort of yanki!_ I let out a frustrated breath and pulled the flannel comforter further over my head. There was no sense worrying about it now, not when there was an injured guy on the other side of my bedroom door. I sighed and let my thoughts drift off as I let my mind enter dreamland.

I was sleeping soundly until I heard the loud clap of thunder outside, which caused me to jolt upright. Rain was pattering loudly against the window, blowing sideways, as if the rain was trying to burst into my apartment. The night was being lit up with quick flashes of lightning, which painted the blackened sky with streaks of yellow. I glanced out the window with a look of worry from my spot on the couch. _It didn't look like it was going to rain earlier. Where did this storm come from? _I shuddered a bit; I never did well during storms, especially after the death of my brother. The thunder always drove me deep underneath the covers of my bed. I quickly realized something from my previous statement: _My bed. I'm not in it! _The thought caused me to attempt to bury myself deeper underneath the comforter, which wasn't working very well. I whimpered slightly, wishing that I could burrow deeper into the couch. Suddenly, there was another extremely loud clap of thunder, and I yelped. Tears began to form in my eyes as I desperately tried to muffle the deafening sounds of the thunder.

In an instant, I felt the thick comforter being lifted off me. I clawed desperately at it, keeping my eyes tightly shut and trying to keep the comforter on top of me. The force lifting it began to pull with more intensity and my cries of panic became louder with each tug. With a final, strong tug, the comforter was off, and I was curled tightly in a ball, protecting myself from the claps of thunder outside. I peeked my eye open to see what had removed the blanket from me, and nearly screamed. A tall figure stood before me, holding the cover aside them. I leapt over the couch and hid behind the backrest. The figure remained where it stood, but dropped the comforter to the carpeted ground. "St-Stay back! I-I know karate!" I said, waving my arms around, hoping to prevent the figure from coming near me. My attempt at a threat was cut short with another clap of thunder, which made me scream and crouch down, trying to stop the sounds. As I sat and whimpered, I felt a large, strong hand rest on my head.

The hand didn't move at first, but moments later, it began to hesitantly move back and forth, petting my head. I slowly opened my eyes and looked up to see who was petting my head. It was the orange-haired guy I had saved earlier. I almost gasped in surprise, but another clap of thunder made me curl back into a fetal position. The man then moved his large hand to my waist, where he pulled me closer to his body. He sat me gently in his lap and held me close to him. _What is he doing?! Is he trying to comfort me or something?! Well… I am grateful for it. _I could feel the warmth coming from his heavily muscled chest and I buried myself further into it.

As I snuggled in closer, I noticed something odd: the bandages I had put on earlier were dry. It was as if his cuts had healed the instant that I put on the bandages. His breath wasn't labored either, which lead me to believe he wasn't a yanki, but some sort of a super-human. Or at least something along those lines. I tilted my head up to get a better look at his face. I wanted to see if his head wound had healed as well. _This wound healed too. What the heck is this guy? _While examining the spot where his wound used to be, I noticed that the man was looking ahead, almost scowling at the wall. He looked completely angry, but his arms held me gently, as if he feared I would break if he held me too tight. He opened his mouth slightly and whispered, "Don't worry. You're safe, and nothing is going to hurt you. I promise." And with that, he held me tighter, almost hugging me.

"I'm fine! You don't have to do this!" I said until I was cut off by more thunder.

"I promise that I will keep you safe, so try to get some sleep." He whispered quietly into my ear. He then began to rock us back and forth in an attempt to soothe me as we sat on the tatami-matted floor. As I was held in his strong arms, I began to close my eyes. The rocking motion was relaxing me, and the sound of his heartbeat in my ear drowned out the sound of the thunder. _Why is he doing all this for me? I don't even know him._ I thought sleepily. Instead of continuing to ponder the thought, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, with him still holding me in his arms.

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*Ichigo's POV*

I looked down at her sleeping form as her breathing slowly began to settle into the rhythm of my heartbeat. Her body was so small in my arms that I felt like I was holding a doll, not a teenage girl. _Rest well._ I thought as I picked her up and moved towards her small couch. I leaned against the couch and kept her body close to my heart, hoping that the sound of the beat would drown out the sound of the thunder. I glanced out the window and noticed that the rain was starting to lessen. _I hope the storm stops by tomorrow morning. I don't want her to get scared again._ With that thought, I closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

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**I'm SOOOO sorry for the short chapter! I just wanted to get something out so you all wouldn't hate me too much! I also wanted to keep the chapter to just the night after the event. It was an important point in starting their relationship! I will start my writing of chapter 3 as soon as this one gets posted, so stay tuned! R&R please! ~MakaS0ul**


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